A passenger had their flight ticket canceled after trying to smuggle a bag of snakes in their pants past a TSA checkpoint

Pete Syme
Updated ·2 min read
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A passenger had their flight ticket canceled after trying to smuggle a bag of snakes in their pants past a TSA checkpoint

  • A passenger was caught with a bag of snakes in their pants at Miami International Airport.

  • The Daily Mail reported the passenger's flight ticket was subsequently canceled.

  • Incidents of wildlife smuggling through airports are more common in Asia.

A passenger was caught trying to smuggle a bag of snakes onto a plane at Miami International Airport last month.

Transportation Security Agency officials said officers detected the small bag "hidden in a passenger's pants" on April 26.

They shared pictures of the two small snakes and the bag in question, an Oakley sunglasses bag in camouflage colors.

Upon discovering the reptiles at a security checkpoint, the TSA called in the police and Customs and Border Protection. The snakes were then taken away by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Daily Mail reported that the passenger's flight ticket was canceled as a result of the incident.

It's unclear whether the snakes were their pets, or if they were being trafficked out of the country.

Stories of people attempting to smuggle wildlife through airports aren't that rare, although they are more common in Asia. In March, The Guardian reported six people were arrested in Thailand after officials found 87 animals inside their luggage — including lizards, birds, and a red panda.

Kanitha Krishnasamy, from Traffic — an NGO focused on the illegal wildlife trade — told The Guardian there had been a "very active and persistent level of trafficking of live animals between Southeast Asia and South Asia."

"Airlines and the transport sector play a crucial role, as frontliners who come across these bags being loaded onto a plane or sent as cargo," she added.

"They have the ability not only to detect but collaborate with enforcement agencies to identify the parties involved in the trafficking chain."

US Customs and Border Protection said in 2023 that wildlife smuggling is "one of the most profitable natural resource crimes."

Read the original article on Business Insider